


The other side of the glass

by WolfKomoki



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Barry Whump, Flashbacks, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Suicidal Thoughts, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 01:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12900939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfKomoki/pseuds/WolfKomoki
Summary: Barry walks through the halls of Iron Heights in silence. He can’t believe that Hannibal Bates framed him. Well, if there’s one thing to look forward to, at least no one knows that he’s a meta. The metahuman cells suck, he’s seen them. The only problem? How is he going to be able to eat enough with his metabolism? He’d hate to pass out, or even worse: starve to death in here.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Gray is the New Red](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7011808) by [RedQ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedQ/pseuds/RedQ). 



> The Flash is owned by The CW

 

          “Hey, we located Hannibal Bates he was impersonating his grandma.” Barry speaks into the phone.

          “Barry, do not let him touch you.” Wells insists.

          “Or let him see you use your super speed.” Caitlin adds.

          “Well, how am I supposed to catch him?” Barry asks incredulously.

          “The old-fashioned way. Run like a normal person.” Wells answers as Barry hangs up the phone. After that, he starts running as slow as he can, with Eddie close behind. Before he knew it, however, Hannibal Bates touched his shoulder and ran past them until he was out of eyeshot. Hannibal was currently staring at two of Barry’s coworkers.

          “Allen! What do you make of this?” The officers ask. Hannibal Bates aims a gun at them.

          “Your death.” He grins, killing them both. He runs off after that, and that’s when the real Eddie and Barry catch up.

          “Allen! Call 9-1-1!” Eddie shouts and that’s when Barry calls to report it in. When Barry walked into the CCPD the next day, he was surprised to see an officer slap him in handcuffs.

          “Hey! What are you doing?” Barry shrieks.

          “Bartholomew Henry Allen, _Y_ ou have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?” The officer speaks, and that’s when Barry’s eyes widened.

          “This is ridiculous! What are my charges?” Barry shouts.

          “Like you don’t know Allen. You murdered two of our best officers.” The officer snaps. Barry stays silent as he’s put in the back of a police car. When they park the car, Barry frowns when he sees the building for Iron Heights.

          “I’d get comfy if I were you Allen. You’re gonna be here a while.” The officer snaps as he takes him inside. Barry walks through the halls of Iron Heights in silence. He can’t believe that Hannibal Bates framed him. Well, if there’s one thing to look forward to, at least no one knows that he’s a meta. The metahuman cells suck, he’s seen them. The only problem? How is he going to be able to eat enough with his metabolism? He’d hate to pass out, or even worse: starve to death in here. Soon enough, he’s being put in a grey prison uniform, and taken to his cell. Barry stares at the bars of his cell and sighs. He could easily get out of here if he used his powers, but he knew better than that. If he escaped, then he would just look guilty. Barry’s cell mate was a twenty-five-year-old bald man with blue eyes, and a lot of tattoos.

          “So, what are you in for?” He asks.

          “I don’t want to talk about it.” Barry sighs.

          “That’s cool. You can tell me when you’re ready. My name is Devon Higgins. What’s yours?” Barry’s cell mate asks. Barry just stares at him. Why the hell did he tell him that? He’s a total stranger.

          “Well, my legal name is Bartholomew, but I prefer Barry.” Barry answers. Devon’s eyes widened.

          “Barry? As in Henry’s kid?” He asks.

          “You know my dad?” Barry asks.

          “Oh yeah. He and I are pretty close.” Devon informs.

          “Well, I’m glad he has one friend in here at least.” Barry smiles. Slowly, he looks around the cell.

          “When do we get to eat around here?” He asks.

          “Sorry man, dinner bell was an hour ago. You’ll have to wait until five tomorrow.” Devon apologizes. Soon enough their cells were locked, and they lay down to sleep. Barry eventually falls asleep, which he found surprising given how small his cell is. When the next morning came, Barry woke up to the sound of a loud buzzer. Groaning, he goes to the showers, and starts cleaning himself. He hates this, there’s no privacy at all, and there wasn’t much time before he was forced out of there and shoved into the cafeteria.

As Barry walks to the food line, he realizes something: there’s no way that they’ll let him grab enough food to satisfy his increased metabolism.

          If Barry doesn’t figure something out, then he’s either going to pass out, or slowly starve to death in here. Barry looks at the other inmates with curiosity. Most of them were staring at him with hatred, but some of them didn’t seem to care. Finally, he sees Devon, and his dad, and that’s when he sits down. Henry’s eyes widened upon seeing his son.

          “Barry! What are you doing in here?” He asks. Slowly, Barry sits down.

          “It’s a long story.” He sighs.

          “Well, I’d love to hear it.” Devon adds.

          “When I was chasing down a suspect, it turned out that they were a metahuman, and they touched my shoulder. When they did that, they took on my appearance and made it look like I shot down two cops.” Barry sighs. He wasn’t ready for Devon to hear this, but he needed to talk to someone about this, so he chose his dad.

          “Speaking of metahumans…” Henry asks, lowering his voice.

          “Don’t you have to eat a hell of a lot of food?” He whispers. Barry nods. He knew that this was going to be a problem, but what was he supposed to do? Barry’s eyes widened when Henry pushed his plate towards him.

          “Take some of my food.” Henry pleads.

          “I’m not going to take your food!” Barry protests.

          “Barry, please. What kind of father would I be if I let you go hungry in here?” Henry pleads.

          “I’ll just… take the corn.” Barry says as he takes his corn, much to his father’s disapproval. He pushes the plate back to Henry, and that’s when he eats his food. When it was time for them to go outside, the thought of using his speed to get out of here taunts Barry. _No, you can’t. If you do that, you’ll just make yourself look even more guilty._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

          It was early the next morning when Barry’s case was being discussed.

          “You can’t just leave him in there!” Eddie shouts.

          “Look Eddie, I like Barry, I don’t want to see him in Iron Heights, either, but I can’t just ignore crucial evidence like this.” Cecile sighs. David’s blood boils at that statement.

          “You know what’s been going on in this city! We’ve all seen things that can’t be explained!” He shouts.

 

          “I’m sorry, but I need to go by the law on this one. Until you can provide me with actual proof that the footage was faked, my hands are tied.” Cecile sighs. David wanted to scream at the top of his lungs at that moment. Meanwhile, Barry was currently being questioned.

          “So, Mr. Allen. It says here that you shot and killed two cops in cold blood. Want to tell me why you did it?” A woman with black hair, and brown eyes asks. Barry sits there with his arms crossed. They’re never going to believe that he was framed. He knows that. Better to say nothing at all.

          “Mr. Allen, don’t make this any harder than it needs to be. Just tell us why you did it, and we might be able to get you a lighter sentence.” The woman pleads. Barry remains silent. The woman sighs.

          “Mr. Allen, if you don’t tell us why you did it, then we can’t work out a deal to make your time here shorter.” The woman sighs. Barry remains silent.

          “Have it your way then. Guards, take him back to his cell.” The woman insists, slowly slipping a burger inside his uniform.

          “Yes Ms. Connors.” The guards greet, placing the cuffs on Barry as they take him back to his cell. When Barry gets in his cell, he eats the burger as slow as possible. Who knows when the next time he would get to eat was? It was about an hour later before Barry’s hands started to shake. Great, just what he didn’t need.

          “Whoa man. You’re shaking. Are you alright?” Devon asks with concern.

          “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Barry lies. Devon eyes him suspiciously, but decides to let it go for now. They both go to sleep for the night. When Barry wakes up the next morning, he begins to feel lightheaded. He puts his hand against his head, trying to stay awake. Before he knew it, however, his world goes black. Devon’s eyes widened when Barry passes out.

          “Barry! Oh my God! Guards! Guards!” He shouts.

          “Shut the fuck up Higgins! Some of us are trying to sleep here!” One of the inmates shout. Soon enough the guards run to the cell, and that’s when they slowly open it, running to Barry’s side.

          “Mr. Allen? I need you to open your eyes. Can you do that?” The guard asks with concern. Barry doesn’t respond and that’s when they frown.

          “Okay Mr. Allen? I’m going to need you to open your eyes. Can you do that?” Another guard asks. Still, Barry doesn’t respond. Sighing, they carry him to the prison infirmary. Man, this kid was heavier than he looks. When they finally get Barry to the infirmary, they’re laying him on the cot. After that, they’re replaced by doctors and nurses.

          When the doctor gets there, he walks over to Barry, and places his fingers under his neck, checking his pulse. When he felt his pulse, he almost had a heart attack. Jesus Christ that was fast. Barry didn’t seem to be showing signs of a heart attack, though, so maybe he just had a heart condition. It would certainly explain why he passed out, wouldn’t it?

          “Didn’t mister Allen’s cellmate mention something about his hands shaking? I think we should check his glucose levels.” One of the nurses state. Soon they’re pricking Barry’s finger, putting the blood on one of the testing kits. When the results come in, their faces paled.

          “Holy shit! Look at his glucose levels! No wonder the poor kid passed out!” The doctor commented. Soon they’re attaching him to an iv drip, hoping to get some nutrients in his body. To their frustration, several hours passed and it didn’t seem to be doing anything to help the poor kid.

          “What if we increase the iv drip?” One of the nurses suggests.

          “Increase the-are you insane? That could kill him!” The doctor shouts.

          “You have any better ideas?” The nurse spats. The doctor sighs. She was right.

          “Fine, we’ll add two more.” The doctor sighs, and that’s when he attaches two more to Barry. By the end of the night, they’ve attached forty ivs to Barry.

          “Jane, how many is that?” The doctor asks the nurse.

          “Well, Noah, that’s forty. We need to talk to the cafeteria staff here, so this doesn’t happen again.” Noah insists. When Barry finally wakes up, he’s blinded by the fluorescent lights in the infirmary. Wincing, he shields his eyes as he listens to the sound of a heart monitor.

          “Mr. Allen?” A voice asks with concern. After moving his arm, Barry slowly opens his eyes to see one of the doctors staring back at him. Barry sighs. So, it wasn’t a dream. He really was framed and put in Iron Heights.

          “What happened?” Barry asks, slowly sitting up.

          “You passed out because you weren’t eating enough. If it wasn’t for your cellmate shouting for the guards, you could’ve died.” The doctor answers. Barry nods.

          “Mr. Allen, you should have told us that you had unique dietary requirements right away.” The doctor scolds.

          “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to cause any trouble, and I didn’t want you to think that I was trying to start trouble because I got more food than the others.” Barry apologizes.

          “How many calories do you need to eat daily?” The doctor asks.

          “I need to eat at least ten thousand calories a day.” Barry answers.

          “Alright, I’ll have a talk with the cafeteria staff here. For now, you’ll sleep here, and then you’ll be back in your cell by tomorrow.” The doctor informs. Barry sighs.

 

 

 

 

         

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains a r*pe scene. If that sort of thing is triggering for you, then you might want to skip this chapter.

          When Barry wakes up, he’s being forced into a pair of handcuffs. The guards force him up, and that’s when they take him back to his cell. When Barry walks into his cell, Devon sighs with relief.

          “Oh dude, you scared the hell out of me!” Devon sighs with relief.

          “I’m sorry about that.” Barry yawns. Slowly, he climbs into his bed, and he lays down to sleep. Barry was exhausted. When the buzzer for breakfast rolls around, Barry groans as he wakes up. He’s walking into the showers, cleaning himself before he goes to breakfast. When he gets there, the staff is shoving two extra plates at him. Barry takes the plates in silence, and that’s when he sits next to Henry and Devon.

          “Barry! Oh my God! Don’t you _ever_ scare me like that again!” Henry sighs with relief. Barry just eats in silence. He’s not in the mood to talk to his dad right now. He wants people to tell him what’s going on out there. Was Star Labs working to clear his name? How much longer is he going to be here? When Barry looks up, he’s approached by one of the officers.

          “Allen, you got a visitor.” He tells him. Barry looks up in confusion. The hell? Who could be visiting him right now? After quickly scarfing down his food, Barry follows the officer to the visitor’s room. Barry had been here before, visiting his father, but it was a surreal experience being on the other side of the glass as he sits down. When Barry sits down, he’s shocked to see Leonard Snart on the other side of the glass. Slowly, he picks up the phone.

          “Well now, this is quite the reversal of events, wouldn’t you say Scarlet?” Leonard teases.

          “Hey, they don’t… they don’t know that I’m a meta.” Barry says, lowering his voice.

          “Oh, I get it. So, why’d you do it anyway? Wasn’t it _you_ that told me that you were against killing?” Leonard asks. Barry sighs. Why can’t anyone give him the benefit of the doubt?

          “Oh, come _on_! Seriously? You honestly believe that I could _do_ something like that? Come on Snart, _you know me_!” Barry scoffs.

          “Fine, then tell me what did happen.” Leonard sighs.

          “I was chasing down a suspect named Hannibal Bates, when he touched my shoulder, and he shapeshifted into me. I couldn’t use my speed in front of him or my partner, so I had to let him out run me. Well by the time I caught up to him, he’d used my appearance to make it look like I had shot and killed two cops.” Barry explains, lowering his voice in case anyone was listening. He doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s a meta, if he’s going to be stuck here for years, he doesn’t want to spend it in the metahuman cells. Those cells shouldn’t even be legal, they’re so inhumane.

          “Well, all I can offer you is this: keep your head down.” Leonard says.

          “Snart? Thanks. Thanks for visiting.” Barry smiles, and that’s when they were forced to end the conversation. Barry sighs as the cuffs are taken from his wrists. It’s time for all the prisoners to go outside. When Barry walks outside, it’s just a cruel reminder that he could very easily break out of here, if he wanted to. When Barry walks outside, he’s greeted by an older man with a buzzcut.

          “Hey Allen, I bet you like getting your dick sucked huh?” The man laughs, pressing himself to Barry’s body.

          “Back _off_.” Barry growls, shoving him as hard as he can.

          “Oh, come on. I saw your little boyfriend visiting you. What were you talking about anyway?” The man smirks.

          “It’s not like that. He’s just a friend.” Barry corrects.

          “Just a friend, huh? Well then, that’s great.” The man smirks. Barry walks away from the man before he ends up punching him. That’s the last thing he needs to do is start a fight in here. Soon enough their allotted time outside was over, and that’s when they’re being forced back inside. Barry decides to go to the showers, and that’s when his eyes widened. The man from earlier had followed him in here.

          “So, since he’s not your boyfriend, then he wouldn’t mind if we played in here, would he?” The man smirks.

          “Look Ron, I don’t like you like that!” Barry protests. Barry’s eyes widened when Ron pulled him in for a kiss. Barry tries shoving him, and that’s when Ron covers his mouth.

          “Don’t scream.” Ron growls, and that’s when Barry feels sick. Ron had pulled his pants down, and had started touching him. Tears pour from his eyes. Please God, let this be over. Ron eventually backs off, and that’s when Barry gets dressed, too ashamed of what just happened to take the shower.

Barry goes back to his cell, and collapses face first into the blanket.

          He feels dirty, used, ashamed. He feels like he’ll never be clean again. Why didn’t he fight back against Ron? He could have easily overpowered him. Barry goes to sleep that night without supper, too disgusted with himself to want to eat. When Barry wakes up, everyone was still sleeping. He stares at his hand, and that’s when a thought occurs to him: if he can vibrate his entire body, then theoretically he could vibrate his hand through his chest, and stop his own heart.

          Could he do it? Does he want to do it? Oh God, what if Ron touched him again? Barry can’t go through that again, but if he killed himself, then he knows what people will think. _He couldn’t handle the fact that he killed those two police officers, so he offed himself out of guilt._ No, as much as he wants to, he can’t kill himself, no more than he can break out of here. He knew he couldn’t report it, who would believe him? He’s a man, no one would believe that he was raped.

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

When everyone was let out of their cells for breakfast, Barry goes down to get his plate, and that's when he jumps. Ron had pressed himself against his body.

         "Hey Allen, feel like playing with me tonight?" He asks with a smirk. Before he knew what he was doing, Barry punches Ron as hard as he can. Barry's eyes widened when two police officers run up to him, and that's when they start forcefully pulling him away from Ron. Before he knew it, they'd thrown him into solitary confinement. When Barry is thrown in the cell, he's immediately aware that he's alone. Barry doesn't have a name here, instead he's being called by a number: thirty-five, six-two, or 3562 for short. Devon is 3563, or thirty-five-six-three.

         This new cell was small, quiet, and dark. They'd covered the windows to make sure that the lights in the hall couldn't be seen in the cell. The first thing that Barry is aware of, is how dark, and quiet it is in the cell. Barry listens to the thumpity-thump-thump-thump of his heart, and the sound of his breathing. He knew that he could very easily phase out of here, but then he'd be thrown into a metahuman cell, and that won't work. He sighs and gets on the floor, slowly curling into a ball as he rocks back, and forth. It's so dark in this cell, and Barry doesn't like it one bit.

         He thinks of everyone outside: were they getting _any closer_ with his case? Where is Hannibal Bates now? Does everyone believe that he's guilty? Is he ever going to get out of here? How long is he going to be in solitary confinement?

         Claustrophobia begins to set in after two hours, and Barry feels like he can't breathe. It may be only two hours, but to a speedster, it might as well be two days. He starts doing pushups on the floor, doing anything, and everything to get his mind off the fact that he's trapped. Hunger sets in about twenty minutes later, and Barry is immediately aware of the fact that he hasn't eaten in almost three hours. He starts feeling dizzy about four hours in, and that's when he slowly climbs into his bed, hoping to sleep off the gnawing pain in his stomach.

         Tears pour from his eyes as he thinks of his father. Just like Barry, he was falsely accused of murder, and taken to Iron Heights. Like Barry, there was no proof that he was innocent. Like Barry, he was stuck here for God knows how long. It hits Barry like a truck five minutes in: he looked guilty. To the rest of the world he shot two police officers in cold blood. To the outside world, he was guilty, just like his father. The legal system had failed his father, and now it had failed him.

         When five hours set in, Barry starts screaming. He wants someone to let him out of here. He wants out now! Let him out, please! When the sixth hour sets in, Barry's throat was dry, and sore from screaming his lungs out. When the seventh hour sets in, Barry can barely keep his eyes open before his body falls slack against the bed. When the eleventh hour comes around, Barry was startled awake by someone banging on the grate from outside his cell.

         "Dinner time!" The guard calls from outside. Barry slowly opens his eyes to see the grate slowly open, and a tray of food being set on the table near the door. Barry slowly grabs the sides of the bed, slowly steadying himself as he walks over and grabs the food from the tray. When Barry starts eating the food, his hands were shaking. Shit, when was the last time they fed him? He can't remember. By the time they brought the food to him, Barry was ravenous. He'd eaten the food in minutes, but it still wasn't enough. What he wasn't expecting was for more food to be given to him. Barry grabs another one of the trays and starts eating it. Barry eventually forces himself to stop eating, knowing that he was going to spend the night here.

         He sits on the ground, slowly lying on the floor as he stares up at the ceiling. There was no way he was going to get to sleep in this claustrophobic room. He's been in prison for four days. He's been here for ninety-six hours, five thousand, seven-hundred sixty minutes, three hundred-forty-five thousand, six hundred seconds, three hundred forty-five million, six hundred thousand milliseconds, but to Barry, it might as well have been years.

         He thinks of Devon. Sweet, loveable Devon, who will have to spend forty years in here. How can anyone keep their sanity here? Is that what his dad felt like all these years that he's been here? Barry starts singing a song that Henry used to sing to him as a child, hoping that by singing it, it would give him some sort of comfort.

         " _Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling,_

_From glen to glen and down the mountain side;_

_The summer's gone, and all the roses falling;_

_It's you, it's you must go, and I must bide._

_But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,_

_Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow;_

_I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow;_

_Danny boy, Oh Danny boy, I love you so._

_But if you come and all the flowers are dying,_

_If I am dead, as dead I well may be._

_You'll come and find the place where I am lying,_

_And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me._ " He sings. Barry continues to sing the song for a while, wanting anything to fill the silence of the room. When they called this place solitary confinement, they weren't kidding. By the time Barry stopped singing, he'd sung himself to sleep, slowly covering himself as the words of the song slowly died in his throat.

 

 

 

 

        

        

 

 

        

        

 


End file.
